Pile fabric



Dec. 11, 195] E, F, CLARK 2,578,173

PILE FABRIC Filed May 6, 1947 y 2 SHEETS-SHEET l Z i -l f I I-ur. I

l i EQUAL WARP TENS/0N el e @l e e Dec. 11, 1951 E F, QLARK 2,578,173

PILE FABRIC l ll il lu Zzye mja?? Patented Dec. 11, 1951 PILE FABRE Eugene lF. Clark, Damariscotta, Maine, assgnor VtoMarshall Field & Company, Chicago, Ill., a

corporation of Illinois Application May s, 1947, serial No. 745,227 6 claims. (o1. 139-399) My invention relates to pile fabrics for use particularly as floorV coverings Aand the like and is a continuation in part of my co--pendingapplicam tion, Serial No. 660,573, filed April 8, 1946, Patent No. 2,437,379, March 9,1948. Y

The primary object of my invention is the production of high pile fabric preferably woven as a single shot fabric although double shot lfabric can be made, as known in the weaving art, and in which in the'base fabric there is both allerwise tension as well as va warp-wise tension, whereby the pile tufts are securely anchored in the base, and in which it is not necessary to glue or otherwise secure the tufts into the base fabric. Another and further object of my invention is the provision of a fabric in which the tufts are preferably in abutting engagement with feach other in a warp-wise direction vand also in abutting engagement throughout Ythe major portion of their height in a fillerwise direction, thereby practically eliminating any pockets in which dirt canlodge, and also the elimination of any pockets in which a cleaning medium may lodge during the cleaning of rugs orcarpets which when left in the fabric tends to rot the fabric and lessen its life in the one shot fabric, while in the two shot fabric these spaces while present in each direction are so reduced as to be negligible in practical eect' o 4 Another and further object of my invention is a fabric in which the tufts of -pile yarn are placed in close side to side relation in both warp-Wise and filler-wisedirections 4so that the tufts tend to support each other and pressure applied to the tufts as from walking upon the fabric cause them to'be compressed in a longitudinalv direction instead of turning on their sides common to high pile fabric or fabric of the shag type, thereby 'producing a fabric which possesses a springiness and `elasticity not possible with pile fabrics heretofore produced where pressure'causes the tufts to turn yon their sides thereby `materially lessening the elasticand pleasant effect when'walking on the fabric. i v Another and further object of my invention is the provision of a -pile fabric in which the tufts of pile yarn are woven closely together so as to support each other `as much as possible in a vertical direction, thereby presenting a wearing surface for the fabric composed of the endsY of the pile yarn fibres, thereby adding materially to the life of and the wearing qualities of'the'fabri'c. vAnother and further nobjectvof my invention is the provision of aV pile fabric ir'which'the major D'O'riiQnsOf the Pile 'tr-is 'are 'massed' @195er wgether, thereby tendingto retain the twist in the tufts of yarn' comprising the pile yso that the bres at the cut ends of the yarn separate only for a shortdistance from the ends, thereby presenting an elastic and springy surface for the fabricwhich will be retained as the fabric wears and the ends 4of the tufts become worn off in service.

' Another `object of my invention is the production of a pile fabric in which the base fabric is made of thewarp and filling in substantially a single plane, particularly with the one shot fabric which lies flat on the floor and holds the tufts closely'together in an upright position thus producing a long wearing licor fabric.

` These and other objects of my invention will be better understood by referencel to the Aaccom panying sheet of drawings in which:

Figure l is an elevationalview of the back of `a piece of one shot fabric embodying my invention showing the bases of the pile yarn and the interlaced warpvs, the View being enlarged approximately four times for purposes of clarity;`

Figure 2 is an enlarged sectional, elevational viewon lines 2-2 of Figure 1 extending warpwise of the fabric with equal warp tension of a one shot fabric, the View being enlarged approximately twice the usual size of the fabric;

Figure 3 is an enlarged sectional, elevational view on lines 3-3 of Figure l of a one shot fabric, the section being taken filler-wise of the fabric on approximately the sarne vscale as Figure `2;

vFigure is an enlarged sectional view taken filler-wise of a one shot piece of'fabric onl lines 4,44 of Figure l on approximately the same scale as Figure 2" showing particularly how the warps are compressed about the bases of the tufts;

Figure 5 is a sectional view of a two shot fabric with equal warp tension;

` -Figure 6 is a'sectonal View of a two shot fabric with unequal warp tension; and

' Figure '7 is a diagrammatic View of a portion of a loom showing the parts having to do primarily with the weaving of the pile yarn and the production of the Vpile tufts.

Referring now'speciflcally to the drawings and in which likereference characters refer to like parts, a section of the fabric is illustrated comprising groups preferably of four warps d, b, c and d, fairly high twist and fairly hard, usually ofcotton or rayon,`each group being spaced 'a short distance from the adjacent group with rows o f pile yarn tufts e ande between each group of' warps extending warpwise Vdirection with the warps a, b, c and d being grouped close together with strands of iiller f and f' being interwoven with the warp and through the bases of the pile yarn tufts e and e', the filler yarn being inserted by a needle-the usual form of looms of this characterthe filler yarn being made preferably of jute or the like producing a strong, hard yarn.

The warps a and c and the warps b and d of each group follow substantially parallel courses throughout the fabric, with the warps a and o being shedded in the same direction by the harnesses, while the warps b and d are shedded in the opposite direction during the weaving operation, the warps a and c being controlled either by one or two harnesses, while the warps b and d are controlled by the other harnesses either one or tWo as may be desired, so that the warps a, and c are substantially parallel with each other, while the warps b and d are also substantially parallel with each other in the weave illustrated in Figures 1 to 4, inclusive.

The pile yarn, usually of wool and preferably with very little twist or with a hard twist and usually somewhat coarser size than either the warp or filler, is supplied from a beam under tension and is threaded through eyelets II, II in the ends of stiff, rod-like pile yarn guides I2, l2 mounted in bars I3 and i4 movably mounted on a loom as shown and fully described in my co pending application, Serial No. 660,573, as above referred to. A series of spaced ngers i5 are provided extending warp-wise of the loom and mounted at their rear ends in a bar IS, having a plate I7 secured thereto with their forward ends resting on the nosepiece I8 forming a part of the loom, and having knives la therein if open pile fabric is desired which sever the loops of pile yarn as they pass over the ends of the lingers I5 as the fabric is woven. A reed box is provided having open reeds 2| mounted thereon, the reeds having elongated openings 22 therein through which the warps a, b, c and d pass. A hold-down mechanism for the fabric is provided which is mounted on the nosepiece i8 of the loom by means of brackets 23 having blocks 24 mounted therein in which a shaft 25 is journalled having spaced disks 2E thereon which pass between the rows of tufts with the outer periphery of the disks 25 in engagement with the top of the base fabric which prevents the lifting of the fabric up from the nosepiece i8 and the bending or distor tion of the fingers I5, because of the upward pull of the pile yarn as hereinafter described.

In weaving the fabric shown in Figures 1 to 4,

inclusive, which is a one shot weave, substantially even tension is provided in the warps a, b, c and d which are arranged in groups with each group of warps being spaced apart approximately the same distance as the fingers I5, i5 and the pile yarn guides I2, I2, in a filler-wise direction, with the center of each group of warps being positioned immediately below one of the fingers I5, the spacing of the fingers I5 depending somewhat upon the coarseness of the pile yarn used, although I have found that approximately oneflfth inch spacing is quite satisfactory for ordinary weaves.

Assuming that the loom parts are in the posi tion shown in Figure 7, the first movement in a cycle of operations is a lateral movement of the pile yarn guides I2, I2 and their descent into the shed of the loom on the opposite side of one of the ngers I5 from the one part which the guides I2 have previously ascended. 'lh 1.110%- ment loops the pile yarn over the tops of the fingers I5, the pile yarn is carried bel-ow the fingers Ie and the strands of filler f and f are inserted between the pairs of shedded warps, the guides I2 having a momentary dwell to allow a needle to traverse the shed of the loom to position the filler. As soon as the filler strands f and f are placed in position, the guides ascend, drawe ing the pile yarn snugly around the filler strands f and f and snugly over the tops of the ngers I5. The reeds 2I thereupon beat up the ller strands ,i and ,f and the pile yarn loops thus formed in the fingers against the fabric previously formed. Because of the fact that the filler strands are very strong and are securely arr-f chored at each side of the fabric, as the pile yarn is woven into the fabric and beat up the ivarps are pressed tightly together at h, h, the points where they cross each other, by the shedding operation, until recesses are formed in the warps within which the next adjacent war-ps are par* tially embedded and also embedding the warps adjacent the bases of each. of the tufts e and ef, producing tension in the woven fabric to a slight degree in a filler-wise direction and binding the tufts e and e' tightly in the fabric at their sides both above and below the ller as shown particularly in Figures 3 and 4. The warps b and c are pressed together so tightly that they are practically rectangular in shape, while the sides of the adjacent warp's are also flattened thus pro-j ducing an interlacing of the warps which results in a filler-wise tension in the woven fabric being obtained which is not possible in the usual woven fabric. Because the warps are compressed tc-`I gether so tightly at the points where they cross, both warps a and b engage the tufts e at the sides of their bases, while both warns c and d en gage the base of the tuft e above and below the filler strands f and j. In the one shot fabric:t the bases of the tufts e and e are in abutting' relation with each other in a warp-wise direction, and because of the fact that the fabric is beat up against the friction of the pile yarn about the ngers I5, as Well as the tension of the warps, a very tight weave is produced, in which the tufts c and e are firmly secured and remain fixed in service. The warps are compressed together ai; the points h, h, where they cross each other, to such an extent that the space between the tufts occupied by the four warps where they cross each other is substantially equal to the space occupied by only two ofl the warps above and below the strands of filler yarn, thereby compressing the pile tufts at their bases to an unusual degree in a filler-Wise direction with the warps being tight engagement with the tufts, both at their bases and just above the ller strands. Likewise, filler-wise space of each of the pile tufts is comparable in extent to the space occupied by the compressed four warps as at hh, Fig. 4, and the spaces occupied by the sets of two warps between the bases of the pile yarn above and below ythe ller shots as shown particularly in Figs. 1 and 4. The bights of the loops of the Warp yarn on one side of the yarn are offset filler-wise only very slightly with respect to the loops on the opposite side of the ller yarn, instead of being offset the full width or more of each strand of warp yarn. thereby producing a pile fabric in which the pile tufts are anchored in the base fabric in a fillerwise direction. I prefer to use two strands of pile yarn, each strand being threaded through the pile thread guides I2 which are in lateral align,- mlt With. @am QGhr and therefore Place the aussage strands nn'the'iingers in side tov side relation with l each other atfthe sides ofthe fingers, but due to th tension on the pile yarn, one of thestrands passes slightly overthe other, so the bases of the pilev tufts'are in side toside relation in 4 a llerwise direction as shown in Figure 1.

The fabric thus produced'-possesses a high elastic pile, very compact'on its outer surface and throughout the major'portion ofthe lengths of yarn comprising the pile withrecesses only where the pile yarn passes around the lleryarn and at the points just above the warps between certain of the strands of pile yarn, and which is very flexible and liesclosely to the floorQand-isvery attractive in appearance with a very substantial and long wearing pile.

In'the two shot weave illustrated inEigure-,

'with all of thev war-ps under equal tensioninstead of tiiebases of 'the tarts e" and arieingin engagement with each other, a shot of `filler f and is vplaced in the fabricand as itis beat up against the baseof thev preceding tufts e and e and on its opposite side has the 'next succeeding rows of tufts and ef beat up against it, thereby anchoring the tufts and providing a slightly heavier base and slightly lighter pile than what l have illustrated and described with reference to theone shot fabric illustrated in Figures l to 4.

In Figure 6 e 'GWG shot Weave is lliistrated in Which the arrangement of the'warps is the same as in the weaves heretofore described with-the 'exception that certain of the warps a and c in the form illustrated are rplaced under greater tension than the warps b and d, preferably the lwarps `b and d being under about one-half of the tension applied to the war-ps a and c. The tension of the warps a and c is determined by the Weaver and may be slightly in excess of that usually used upon all of the warps in normal weaves of pile fabrics, and 'I have foundihat with the alternate warps being about one-half the tension of the warps a and c, that when the warns a and c are shedded up, the pile yarn inserted and the filler placed in position, with the slackV warps'under the filler passing through the pile loops, this filler will be low in the fabric. Upon the next shedding of the warps, the loose war-ps are up, the taut warps down, the ller is placed in between these warps and beat up in engagement with the pile yarn above its base, and also forming a backing against which the next succeeding row of pile yarn loops is positioned, thereby in effect locking the pile loops in the fabric.

It is to be understood that this invention is not to be limited to the exact embodiments of the device shown, which are merely by way of illustration and not limitation, as various other forms of the device will, of course, be apparent to those skilled in the art without departing from the spirit of the invention or the sco-pe of the claims.

I claim:

1. A pile rug or ncarpet fabric incorporating pile yarn interwoven Within a base fabric in selfretaining relation therein, and composed of a plurality of sets of binder warps interwoven with a plurality of shots of multiple-strand filler yarn, a plurality of multi-strand warp-wise pile yarns looped around at least each alternate shot of filler yarn, said sets of binder warps being displaced from each other along the width `of the fabric with the pile yarns compacted and compressed `therebetween in spaces comparable in extent to those occupied by the sets of binder Warps, said shots of filler yarn being interwoven extend in substantial parallelism to each other throughout the vlength of the fabric, and the 'closeness of said binder .warps to the loops of pile yarn'impartinga permanent Weft-wise compression tosaid pile 'yarns at said filler yarns to anchor effectively' lsaidpile yarns within said ferrie? i2, n pile rug or carpet single-shot fabric incorporating pile yarn'interwoven within a base fabric in self-retaining relation therein, and -eompos'e'd of a plurality of sets f binder Warps interwoven with vsucces'sive shots of filler yarns, a plurality of warpLwise pile yarns looped `around each shot of iilleryarm said'sets of binder warps'bein'g displaced'from each other along the width ofthe fabric with the pile yarns compacted and Icompressed` therebetween spaces com'- paablein extent to those occupied'by theV sets gf binder 'warps Asaid Afiller yarns being interwoven 'with'said'bindfer warps so that adjacent warns nf each set 'are'disposed on opposite sides of each'lleryarnwandthealternate warps of 'each set extend in substantial parallelism to' each 4othertl'1roligln'n ut the length bf the fabridan'd lthecleseness of said binder Warps to the loops of pile yarn imparting' a permanentweft-wise com- 'pression to said pile yarns at said filler yarns to @nher eieetivelrsid Dile raies Within .Said

" f3. A pile rug o r carpetsingle-shot fabric incorpore-tingV pile: yarn'finterwovenwithin'a ybase fabrici in selflretainingrelation therein, vand composed of a [plurality of sets o f binder warps interwoven with successive shots Vof filler yarn, aplurality gf multi-strand warp-wise pile yarns 'looped around each shot of filler yarn, said sets being displaced from each other nur ofthe V,fatr-i with the mum- S. lid pile ef bieder 'W tiene they i y'yarns compacted and com-pressed therebetween in spaces comparable in 'extent to these Occupied bythe seis of binder Wfilpsy ,Said nner'arns big interwoven with Said bieder warpsso thatadjacent warps of each set are disposed on opposite sides of each filler yarn and the alternate war-ps of each set extend in substantial parallelism to each other throughout the length of the fabric, and the closeness of said binder warps to the loops of pile yarn imparting a permanent weft-wise compression to said multi-strand ypile yarns at said filler yarns to anchor effectively said multi-strand pile yarns within said fabric in their disposition of close adjacency to each other along each shot of ller yarn as well as between the adjacent shots of ller yarn.

4. A pile rug or car-pet single-shot fabric incorporating pile yarn interwoven within a base fabric in self-retaining relation therein, and cornposed of a plurality of sets of binder warps interwoven with successive shots of ller yarn, each set of binder warps comprising four threads, a plurality of Warp-wise double pile yarns looped around each filler yarn, said sets of binder warps being displaced from each other along the width of the fabric with the pile yarns compacted and com-pressed therebetween in spaces comparable in extent to those occupied by the sets of binder warps, said ller yarns being interwoven with said binder warps so that adjacent warps of each set are disposed on opposite sides of each ller yarn and the alternate warps of each set extend in substantial parallelism to each other throughout the length of the fabric, and the closeness of said binder warps to the loops of pile yarn imparting a permanent weft-wise compression to said double pile yarns at said filler yarns to anchor effectively said pile yarns within said fabric in their disposition of close adjacency to each other along each shot of filler yarn as well as between the adjacent shots of filler yarn.

5. A pile carpet fabric comprising a ground fabric with pile interwoven into the said ground fabric in self-retaining relation therein, the said ground fabric being composed of sets of binder warps interwoven with shots of ller yarns anchored at their ends at each side of the fabric, the said pile comprising yarn looped around selected shots of filler yarns, the said binder warps crossing each other between the shots of ller yarns and being compressed at the point of crossing each other into spaces substantially equal in extent to the spaces between the filler yarns occupied by the binder warps above and below the said shots of ller yarns and whereby the outermost warps of each set of binder warps and the binder warps adjacent thereto are in engagement with the bases of the pile yarns both immediately above and immediately below the shots of filler yarns and alternate warps of each set are in side to side engagement with each other above and below each shot of ller yarn thereby imparting a permanent filler-wise compression to the said pile yarns both above and below the ller shots to effectively anchor the pile yarn in the ground fabric and hold the pile yarn in closely packed relation in substantially vertical position over the surface of the ground fabric.

6. A pile carpet fabric comprising a ground fabric with pile interwoven into the said ground fabric in self-retaining relation therein, the said ground fabric being composed of sets of binder warps interwoven with shots of filler yarns anchored at their ends at each side of the fabric, the said pile comprising yarn looped around selected shots of ller yarns, the said binder warps crossing each other between the shots vof ller yarns and being compressed at the point of crossing each other into spaces substantially equal in extent to the spaces between the ller yarns occupied by the binder warps above and below the said shots of ller yarn thereby reducing the spaces normally provided between the pile yarns in a filler-wise direction whereby the pile yarns in a filler-wise direction are in engagement with each other for a substantial portion of their lengths and the binder warps are shifted filler-wise so that the outermost warps of each set of binder warps and the binder warps adjacent thereto are in engagement with the bases of the pile yarns both immediately above and immediately below the shots of filler yarns and alternate warps of each set are in side to side engagement with each other above and below each shot of ller yarn thereby imparting a permanent ller-wise compression to the said pile yarns both above and below the ller shots to efr'ectively anchor the pile yarn in the ground fabric and hold the pile yarn in closely packed relation in substantially vertical position over the surface of the ground fabric.

EUGENE F. CLARK.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the le of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 257,395 Skinner May 2, 1882 626,878 Tymeson June 13, 1899 791,678 Dustin June 6, 1905 1,948,936 Shaw Feb. 27, 1934 1,999,067 Stevenson Apr. 23, 1935 2,037,548 Underwood Apr. 14, 1936 2,070,251 Bird Feb. 9, 1937 2,144,555 Sudell Jan. 17, 1939 2,345,337 Gardner Mar. 28, 1944 FOREIGN PATENTS Number Country Date 428,460 Great Britain May 9, 1935 659,545 France June 29, 1929 

